One in 10 Britons now eats three meals a day at work – and gains a STONE in weight as a result

One in 10 Britons now eats three meals a day at work – and gains a STONE in weight as a resultHalf of us eat both
breakfast and lunch at our desksAnd tuck into our first snack by 10am20% of regularly raid the vending machine at work

By
Anna Hodgekiss

PUBLISHED:

18:24 GMT, 25 February 2013

|

UPDATED:

03:02 GMT, 26 February 2013

Millions of workers are putting in such long hours they are eating breakfast, lunch and dinner at their desk, a survey has found.

The mad dash to get to work in the morning means many of us grab something from the fridge and take it to work to eat on arrival.

Most pop out to buy lunch before hurrying back to eat it at their desk in order to stay on top of the to-do list.

Half of us eat both breakfast and lunch at our desks, while 10 per cent of us eat all three meals at work

They then find themselves struck by
hunger at 5pm and seek a third meal – on which they also dine ‘al desko’
– to keep them going into the evening.

The habit, combined with more
snacking, means the average person puts on almost a stone in the first
year of office work, with 11lbs weight gain.

A fifth of office workers regularly raid the vending machines

The study, commissioned by snack
company Wonderful Pistachios, found half of respondents ate breakfast
and lunch at their desks – and one in ten eats all three meals at their
computer.

And, once the day begins, it appears even those with the best intentions find themselves caving in to the temptation to snack.

Four in ten indulge in at least two unhealthy snacking sessions each day at their desk.

Half said they rely on these for an energy boost, while a fifth say it’s essential in lifting the spirits.

The cheer-up may prove crucial in
enduring long spells at the desk – with the average worker spending at
least 5 hours and 40 minutes of their day completely desk-bound.

The main excuses for such devotion were a lack of time, huge workloads and simply working extraordinarily long days.

WORKERS' STRESS LEVELS ARE 'DANGEROUSLY HIGH'

Two out of five office staff are working under 'dangerously high' stress levels, according to a study.

Research by office supplies firm Viking showed that some, such as teachers, blamed incompetent colleagues for stress.

A survey of 2,000 workers from private companies as well as the NHS and police, revealed that stress at work affected their health.

Just over half those studied said they worked more than 10 hours unpaid overtime every week.

Neil Shah, who conducted tests on hundreds of workers as part of the study, said: 'This research shows that many people in the UK today are working under some dangerous levels of stress – they may not even be aware of how stressed they are.'

And the average worker doesn’t even
make it an hour before tucking in to their first snack with 9.58am the
most popular time to reach for the treats or visit the vending machine,
the poll found.

The average person experiences 23 minutes of food-related chatter each day, the survey also found.

A spokesman for Wonderful Pistachios said: ‘Many people struggle to manage a demanding work life with a good diet.

Conversation about food, boredom and a
constant flow of treats brought in by colleagues easily knock people
off the healthy eating path.’

More than half of office workers bring in snacks from home, but colleagues handing out treats proves too tempting for a third.

A disillusioned 45 per cent think they’ve no choice but to put on weight because of the sedentary nature of their job.